Designing and Facilitating Engaging Discussion Online

a picture of a book lying open with headphones on it

Online discussions can lead to deeper learning. How? The key is being intentional within the design and facilitation. As we build community within our online classrooms, we want to create a safe space where students can explore ideas and learn from each other.

Online discussion boards are a tool that can be used as a meeting place for social interactions among peers, a place for collaboration and exchange of ideas, a medium to pose questions about homework, a place to discuss and review assignments and course content, a way to demonstrate understanding or application, or a discussion record for group work. First, you must decide the purpose for which you will design your discussion. The purpose should align with your student learning objectives for the course.

Discussion boards have forums and threads. A forum is the topic of discussion at hand; it is the big picture. Threads are designed to post within a forum. You can design the forum so each student can post their own thread, or you can create threads and have students post within those threads. Once you have decided the purpose and how you plan to design your forum, you should consider four key elements to facilitate an engaging discussion:

Share and model expectations. Students need you to define what netiquette looks like within your classroom. Netiquette is just a term used for online etiquette. You should also define what you expect in terms of participation.

● How much time should students spend on posting and responding within a discussion?

● What do you expect in terms of length or word count for their initial post?

● How many responses would you like them to make and what counts as an acceptable response?

● Can they use formal and informal language within the discussion?

● When is the initial post due and when are the responses due?

I have found that the deeper learning in discussions happens after the second response. Therefore, it is important that students are going back to the thread with their initial post and responding to those who posted responses. The role of the facilitator is to guide the discussion and give prompt feedback so students know if they are meeting expectations.

Write good discussion prompts. A prompt must support your student learning goals and encourage a range of responses. You want to write a prompt that emphasizes higher order critical thinking. Avoid factual answers or something students summarize from a textbook as this does not lead to deeper learning or a good discussion. Provide opportunities for peer review or student led discussions, give students a choice in which question they answer, and have them ask good questions of each other. You can also allow them to respond to discussion prompts with a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or use a graphic organizer; these prompts give students choices in how they can participate and allow for more critical thinking.
Be present. Be active and strategic in how you facilitate and participate within a discussion. In most classes, it is impossible to read every post, so spot read and then post a general response to the whole class through an announcement. Recognize useful contributors. Model good feedback, and ask questions that probe deeper and guide students to enhance learning. Give students specific strategies they can use within the discussion and model it. I’ve found that being actively involved in the first couple weeks of discussion helps the students to know what to expect and how to give feedback and engage their peers within the discussion. I would resist the urge to provide answers to all the questions yourself. This can lead to students not wanting to respond to peers; instead, they wait for the instructor to give the “right” answer. Allowing time for other students to post responses is healthy. If they are off track, then use questions and comments within the thread to guide them back to the content and main learning objectives. Encourage students to go deeper by asking engaging questions. This will help students take responsibility in sustaining the conversation.
Assess & evaluate. Have a rubric. Define how students will be evaluated on their participation in a discussion. Assessment is a strong motivation for student participation. Is it purely on the number of posts, or does the quality of the post and feedback a student gives to peers add value? Assessment should support your learning goals. Rubric criteria can include, but is not limited to:

● Quality and Timeliness

● Spelling and Mechanics

● Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of content and/or how to apply what you are learning into the real world

● Generate learning within the community

A female student with headphones on listening to an online course

It takes practice learning how to design and facilitate an online discussion. Think about the discussions you have within a face-to-face classroom where the interaction that goes on is designed and guided by you. Face-to-face interactions happen naturally at a much faster pace and you can give immediate feedback. Students learn expectations of any discussion by watching how you give feedback both verbally and nonverbally. In online discussions we have to be intentional at defining the expectations of both the students and the instructor. The students will develop and learn how to navigate, participate, and sustain quality conversations within online discussions over time and with your guidance.

Here is a link to a presentation on How to Design and Facilitate Engaging Discussion